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Government Information Quarterly Contents

Government Information Quarterly

Volume 2, Number 1, 1985

CONTENTS

Discussion Forum: The Chadha Decision
A Guest Editorial
Anthony James Zagami .........................................................1

Congressional Research Service:
The Research and Information Arm of Congress
Gilbert Gude ....................................................................5

Professional Assistance to Legislators:
The Research Branch of Canada's Library of Parliament
Hugh Finsten ................................................................... 13

The Government Printing Office Cataloging Records:
Opportunities and Problems
Judy E. Myers ................................................................. 27

The Automation of Government Publications: Functional
Requirements and Selected Software Systems for Serials Control
Mary Sue Stephenson and Gary R. Purcell ................................... 57

An Assessment of the 1983 Biennial Survey
Charles R. McClure ........................................................... 77

Contributors ........................................................................ 109

Forthcoming ........................................................................111

Reviews
David C. Heisser, Editor

Baker and Taylor's Continuation Service:
Selected United States Government Documents
Reviewed by Peter Hernon .................................................. 113

The Complete Guide to Citing Government Documents:
A Manual for Writers & Librarians
By Diane L. Garner and Diane H. Smith
Reviewed by George D. Brightbill ........................................... 115

Consumer Sourcebook, Fourth Edition
Edited by Paul Wasserman and Gita Siegman
Reviewed by Roxanne Palmatier ............................................ 116

Corporate Author Authority List
Reviewed by Judith E. Stokes ............................................... 118

Directory of Government Document Collections & Librarians,
Fourth Edition
Edited by Barbara Kile and Audrey Taylor
Reviewed by David C. Heisser ............................................... 119

Encyclopedia of occupational Health and Safety,
Third Edition (2 volumes)
Reviewed by Charles R. McClure ........................................... 120

Official Publications of Western Europe. Volume 1: Denmark, Finland,
France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain and Turkey
Edited by Eve Johansson
Reviewed by Juri Stratford............................................................. 121

The Parliament of Great Britain: A Bibliography
By Robert U. Goehiert and Fenton S. Martin
Reviewed by Eileen David.....................................................................122

Public Agency Communication: Theory and Practice
By Hiney Lauer Schachter
Reviewed by Susan E. Parker..................................................................... 124

U.S. Government Directories, 1970-1981:
A Selected, Annotated Bibliography
Compiled by Constance Staten Gray
Reviewed by Michael Vocino..............................................................................125

Congressional Research Service:
The Research and Information Arm of Congress
GILBERT GUDE

Although the beginning of legislative reference service by the Library of Congress can be identified as early as 1815, a more specialized organization with the specific responsibility of providing such assistance emerged with support from leaders of the Progressive Movement just before the dawn of World War I. Subsequent revisions of this mandate in 1946 and 1970 have resulted in the current Congressional Research Service, which continues to meet the requirements of responsiveness, objectivity, and tolerance that are much a part of its two hundred years of tradition.

Professional Assistance to Legislators:
The Research Branch
of Canada's Library of Parliament
HUGH FINSTEN

The extent of government involvement in public activity and the highly technical aspects of the issues arising in our legislatures, points to the need for expert assistance for lawmakers. In Canada, this need was addressed at the federal level by the establishment of a research service as a unit of the Parliamentary Library in 1965. This article gives an insight into the structure and variety of services provided by the 50 professionals of the research unit and the new directions it is taking in addressing the challenges in its work for Canada's two Houses of Parliament.

The Government Printing Office Cataloging Records:
Opportunities and Problems
JUDY E. MYERS

The first part of this article describes the GPO cataloging records on the GPO MARC tapes, on OCLC, and in the Monthly Catalog, and introduces a cost- effective method of using these records in a library catalog. The second part of the article presents a proposal for the comprehensive correction and updating of the GPO cataloging records.

The Automation of Government Publications:
Functional Requirements and Selected Software
Systems for Serials Controls
MARY SUE STEPHENSON
GARY R. PURCELL

This article describes computer based "off-the-shelf" software and network systems designed for application to serials and government publications. The first section provides an overview, noting that systems intended for use with serial publications can be adapted and applied to the maintenance of bibliographic records of government publications. Following the introductory information, general and specific functional requirements are described and discussed. Included here are hardware, software, and file structure requirements. The more specific requirements covered are item identification, data input, data display, check-in, claims, search and retrieval, documentation and training, and output report requirements. The final portion of the article provides descriptive information about selected commercially available serials control systems which can be adapted for the automation of government publications collections. The name and address of each distributor, system prices, and general system specifications are included for each.

An Assessment of The 1983 Biennial Survey
CHARLES R. McCLURE

This article assesses the value of the Government Printing Office's (GPO) 1983 Biennial Survey as a tool to support depository library program planning and decision making. Based on overall criteria of reliability, validity, and utility, much of the data produced from the survey are inaccurate, misleading, and inappropriate both as a means to (1) describe the depository libraries, and (2) assist GPO and individual depository library decision making and planning. Recommendations are offered by which the Biennial Survey can be better designed, administered, and analyzed.


Contributors

Hugh Finsten has been Director of the Research Branch of the Library of Parliament since January 1982. He was educated at the University of Toronto (B.A., political science) and Osgoode Hall Law School (LL.B) in Toronto and is a member of the Bar of the Province of Ontario. He joined the Branch in 1971 as a legal officer and was appointed the first Chief of the Law and Govemment Division in 1976. He has assisted numerous Parliamentary Committees including the Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs and the Special Joint Committee on the Constitution 1980-81; he was research coordinator for the Parliamentary Sub-Committee on the Penitentiary System in Canada, 1976-77. In 1982 he became the second person to hold the Director's post since the Branch was established in 1965. Mr. Finsten speaks both official languages of Canada and is a member of several legal and Parliamentary associations.

Gilbert Gude has been the Director of the Congressional Research Service since 1977. Previously, he served in the Maryland House of Delegates (1953-1958) and the Maryland State Senate (1962-1966) before representing Maryland's 8th Congressional District (1967-1976).

Charles R. McClure is Associate Professor at the School of Library Science, University of Oklahoma, where he teaches courses in the areas of government publications, administration, and information systems. He is President of Information Management Consultant Services, Inc., and has published a number of books and articles in the area of government publications, administration, and research methods. He recently co-authored, with Peter Hernon, Improving the Quality of Reference Service for Government Publications (American Library Association, 1983) and Public Access to Government Information (Ablex Publishing Corp., 1984). Together with Gary R. Purcell, they co-authored GPO's Depository Library Program: A Descriptive Assessment (Ablex Publishing Corp., 1985).

Judy E. Myers, Coordinator of the Documents Unit at the University of Houston Library/University Park Campus, received her B.S. and M.L.S. degrees from Louisiana State University. She is interested in Improving user access to documents, and believes that documents cannot be fully utilized in most libraries until records for them appear in library catalogs. Mrs. Myers is a past chair of the Federal Documents Task Force of the American Library Association's Government Documents Round Table (GODORT), and also of the Documents Round Table of the Texas Library Association. She is a past member and chair of the Depository Library Council to the Public Printer. Currently, she is chair of the GODORT Documents Cataloging Committee.

Gary R. Purcell is Professor, Graduate School of Library and Information Science University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He holds a Ph.D. in Library and Information Science from Case Western Reserve University, a M.S. in Political Science from the same institution, and an M.L.S. from the University of Washington. He is co-author, with Gail Ann Schlachter, of Reference Sources in Library and In- formation Services: A Guide to the Literature (1984) and co-author, with Peter Hernon, of Developing Collections of U.S. Government Publications (1982). In addition, he has authored numerous articles on government publications.

Mary Sue Stephenson is Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She holds a Ph.D. and M.L.S. in Library and Information Science from North Texas State University. Previous writing includes an article that appeared in an earlier issue of Government Information Quarterly and research in the area of information science and automation. Prior to her present position, she was employed by the Xerox Corporation.

Anthony J. Zagami has served as the General Counsel to the Joint Committee on Printing since the fall of 1981. As legal counsel to the Committee, he advises Members and staff on matters concerning their assigned responsibilities as prescribed by Statute and the Congressional Rules and Precedents. A member of the senior staff, he is responsible for interpreting the provisions of Title 44, U.S.C., and the Committee's Policies and Guidelines. Before joining the JCP, he held a variety of staff positions on Capitol Hill. A native of Washington, D.C., he holds a B.S. degree from the University of Maryland School of Business and Public Administration and a J.D. from the George Mason University School of Law. Mr. Zagami is a member of the Bars of the District of Columbia, the U.S. Court and Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court.


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